CBI arrests Prayag Group's MD Basudeb, his son

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested chairman and managing director of Prayag Group, Basudeb Bagchi and his son Avik Bagchi over charges of collecting money through various chit fund schemes.

The central investigating agency arrested them in connection with a money laundering case that was lodged against them in Odisha. Both Basudeb and Avik were arrested following a marathon interrogation by officers of the Special Crime Branch of CBI at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake on Wednesday.

The arrest came after the duo failed to satisfy the CBI officers on answering about the money trails. However, there are many other cases against the group. There are a total of 150 complaints against the group. The duo will be produced before the court on Thursday.

The group, whose film city was endorsed by the Bollywood actor and owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Shah Rukh Khan in 2012, had mobilised more than Rs 1,900 crore from people through its "illegal" chit fund schemes. Shah Rukh had inaugurated Prayag Film City, a project of Rs 1,000 crore, spread over 2,700 acre land at Chandrakona in West Midnapore on April 15, 2012.

Prayag Group, with its headquarters at Behala in South Kolkata, had initiated the chit fund scheme in 2002 and had also entered other businesses including tourism, film production, real estate, media industry, food processing, confectionery products, cement industry, hotels and resorts. The group had also produced two Bengali movies — Jole Jongole and Chaya Manush.

The group had also invested a huge amount to engage Sharmila Tagore and her daughter Soha Ali Khan to promote a biscuit brand of the group.

Besides CBI, the Kolkata Police had conducted a raid in the group's offices in 2013. It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had asked the cops to crackdown on the chit fund groups. It was in July 2016 that the CBI officers had conducted a search operation in the group's headquarters at Behala.